RIYADH – Travellers trying to reach the Saudi capital face cancellations extending beyond the weekend, as airlines adjust schedules after repeated attacks on King Khalid International Airport. Etihad Airways has cancelled services through Tuesday, while the airport’s reopening timetable remains uncertain. The disruption is documented; Houthi claims about damage to two Saudi Aramco facilities remain a separate, unverified part of the story.
Saturday’s attack killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300, NBC News reported, citing Saudi civil aviation authorities. The Indian Embassy said an Indian national injured in the attack subsequently died. Other victims included citizens of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Sudan. Eastern Herald’s initial reporting on the King Khalid International Airport attack recorded the earlier toll of 12. Some of those wounded remained in critical condition.
On Sunday, an unidentified projectile struck Terminal 4 and caused a fire, the Saudi-led coalition said. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed injuries without providing a count and said assessments of damage and safety were underway. The coalition also reported intercepting a cruise missile near the airport. The latest strike came while operations were already suspended, leaving authorities to assess another incident before they could restore passenger services.
The claimed targets now extend beyond Riyadh. In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed attacks on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and on Saudi Aramco facilities at Shedgum and Tanajib. Saudi aviation authorities separately said Dammam airport had come under attack and that inspections were underway, Anadolu Agency reported. Confirmation of an airport incident does not establish the group’s account of every target or the damage it claims to have caused.
Saree described the operations as retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Yemen and threatened further attacks. The reporting reviewed for this article does not independently establish damage or lost production at either Aramco facility. The distinction matters: a military spokesman’s claim is evidence of what the group says it has done, not confirmation that a plant has stopped operating. No verified figure for oil or gas output lost at the two sites is available in those reports.
The airline consequences are more concrete. Etihad’s travel advisory lists cancellations between Abu Dhabi and Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh for October 11–13. Riyadh flights EY559 and EY560 are listed as cancelled on October 12; EY551 and EY552 are listed for October 13. The airline says the situation remains dynamic and further changes are possible. The National reported that Flightradar24 listed 655 Riyadh arrivals and departures cancelled on Sunday, a dated snapshot rather than a final measure of the disruption. A traveller’s booking needs to be checked against the carrier’s current status, not treated as settled by an earlier departures-board count.
An aviation notice put the airport closure through midnight on Sunday but did not specify when passenger operations would resume, The National reported. A closure notice’s stated end time is not, by itself, confirmation that flights have restarted. Eastern Herald’s earlier account covered the Riyadh airport shutdown and schools moving online. The subsequent airline advisories show cancellations extending into the following week, even as the immediate security and operational picture continues to change.
Renewed Houthi threats against Saudi airports, including warnings to stay away, were issued, NBC News reported. Threats against Saudi airports have featured in Eastern Herald’s earlier coverage of the conflict. NBC’s report said three people were killed in an attack on Thursday and described the latest violence as an escalation in a campaign that has also targeted energy infrastructure. Each attack leaves a distinct question for aviation authorities: what was damaged, what must be inspected and whether the facilities can operate safely.
Washington has not committed publicly to joining Saudi military operations. President Donald Trump told reporters that the United States may participate and would consider the recent attack, NBC News reported. The outlet said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had urged him in September to take military action, citing a person familiar with the matter. International condemnation does not settle that decision. Egypt expressed support for Saudi Arabia, Qatar condemned the missile strike as a violation of Saudi sovereignty, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the attack a violation of international law.
The fighting also reaches beyond airports. NBC News described expanded Houthi operations along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around the Bab el Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Eastern Herald has previously covered Saudi diplomatic efforts over the Houthi Red Sea blockade. Those shipping concerns are related to the conflict, but they should not be treated as proof of the specific Aramco claims. For this follow-up, the unresolved questions remain narrower: whether the named energy facilities sustained damage or lost production, and when Riyadh’s passenger flights can reliably resume.
